Countdown to Christmas ~ Week 2

Hello again,

I have another Christmas project to share with you this week and it's another card and another simple one, just with quite a few steps.

First I stamped the images, then punched them out using the "Ornament" punch, then adhered them to the "Cherry Cobbler" cardstock then stamped the sentiment in Versamark ink, added white embossing powder and applied heat.  I then put it into the "Vintage Wallpaper" embossing folder and run it through the "Big Shot".  This technique is called Emboss Embed, when you look at the card it looks like the image is actually part of the cardstock as though it was printed on.
Then I glued the silver cord on, tied little bows and attached to the images then matted onto "Very Vanilla" cardstock then attached that with "Dimensionals" to the "Old Olive" card blank.  Then of course, spritzed it with "Champagne Mist" glimmer paint mix in Surgical Spirit, to make it all shimmery - so cute.

Even though there are quite a few steps,  once you get a little production line going, doing each stage one at a time for multiply cards, you can get quite a few done in a relatively short amount of time.  The thing that took the longest time was tying all those little bows, not easy for me as I have big fingers, but so worth it.

Hope you like it, sorry it doesn't look that shimmery in the photo but it really is so sparkly IRL.

Have a great weekend .... xx


Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets :  "Delightful Decorations" - for the main images & Contempo Christmas" - for sentiment.
Card stock : "Old Olive"; "Cherry Cobbler" &  "Very Vanilla" .
Accessories : "Vintage Wallpaper" embossing folder for the Big Shot; Elastic Cord in Silver; "Champagne Mist" - mixed in Surgical Spirit & Spritzed; Versamark Ink Pad; White Embossing powder.
Colour : "Old Olive" ink
Tools : "Big Shot" die machine; "Scallop Edge" Border punch; "Ornament" punch; Heat Tool; "SNAIL" tape runner adhesive "Stampin' Dimensionals"

Scallop Circle Card

Hi there, today's share is a scalloped circle card that I made using the Scallop Circle die for the Big Shot.

I've seen a lot of cards made using this die, but usually people place a folded piece of cardstock about the top 4 scallops shy so that the fold is kept in tacked.  Personally, I prefer the full scallop look as I think missing the top scallops gives the card a very unsymmetrical look. 

What I do is cut 2 pieces of cardstock and score the back one at around the top 4 scallop mark and adhere them together.  This gives you the same inside area as the other style of card, but the front looks so much better.

I used the Decorative label punch on "Whisper White" and inked the edges and adhered to the bottom of the back piece.  This is the area for the personal message.  I also used the Paper Piercing Tool to poke holes in all of the scallops, which is such a cute little additional touch.



I have a EK Success circle cutter that I used to cut out the circles, and even though you can't tell from this picture, I added a little "Crystal Effect" to the vase to make it shiny as though it has water in it.

I wrote the front sentiment myself, which was actually very scary as I did it after I finished everything else, so it could have been a very big mistake if I had messed up, but luckily it came out ok.

Hope you like it, please leave a comment, it would be lovely to hear from you ...  xx



Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets :  "A Slice of Life" - Level 1 hostess in Summer Mini
Card stock : "Whisper White" & "Rich Razzleberry"
Colour : "Rich Razzleberry" marker pen & "Sahara Sand" ink pad - to add a touch of shadow
Tools : "Scallop Circle" Die for the Big Shot; "Decorative Label" punch; & "SNAIL" tape runner adhesive

Shirt and Tie card

Hello all and welcome to another Friday, nearly the weekend, and I hope you are all going to be able to spend time doing fun things, not just the grown up, sensible stuff  :o)

My share with you today is a Shirt and Tie card.  Well, it's more origami than a traditional greetings card, but it's got a place to add a sentiment and sign your name, so it's a card - right?? Oh, and it goes in a standard size C6 envelope - if you tuck the shirt sleeves in.

Yes, it's a shirt, with a tie and therefore perfect for any man if your life for practically any occasion, depending on what sentiment and paper you use.

I used 1 sheet of the "Concord Crush" paper from the 2010 "In Color" Designers series paper, (DSP),  patterns stack cut down to a standard A4 size.  I absolutely love this colour!

"Where do you add the sentiment and write your message?"  Do you say, well just look at the image below..

It opens up by, well, basically pulling at the shoulders and revelling the space for anything addition you want to stamp or write and it closes by tucking the top back under the collar.

It looks really impressive and not obvious how it was put together, but, like a lot of paper folding, it's really easy to do when you know how and you could whip up quite a few of these quite quickly once you get going - honestly! This one was my first attemped and I think it didn't come you too badly, if I do say so myself - lol!

Project Ingredients

* 1 sheet 12" x 12" DSP  - Cat' Ref : 117158 In Color Paper Pack - but you could use any DSP.
* "Whisper White" card stock - Cat' Ref : 106549
* "Snail" Adhesive - Cat' Ref : 104332
* nothing else - that's it!

If you would like me to demonstrate how this card it made to you and a group of your friends, then get in contact, my email address is on the left.

Take care, until next time   ...  xx

SMASH'ing project

Happy Sunday!

Hope your weekend is going really well.

From now on, my Sunday posts are NOT going to be cards as I want to showcase that there is loads you can do with pretty paper, rubber stamps and a little bit of adhesive so to kick off, my share today is my new Smash book.
For those who haven't heard of Smash booking yet, it's sort of like Scrapbooking, but, err, well gorilla style I guess a good description.  So where a scrapbook page is beautiful paper, lovely photo and well placed elements, smash booking is more simplistic, on-the-go style of documenting your life; unstructured and unfiltered, so if you want to stick in your tube ticket or an article out of the paper and quickly scribble down a note, you can.  It's about capturing the moment and remembering things rather than necessarily making them look esthetically pleasing - but obviously your smash book can be pretty too!

The book I am putting together is all about my family.  I am going to add memories and anecdotes as and when I remember them so that my son and one day his family will have the opportunity to know more about the everyday things rather than the more formal scrapbook pages that tend to document bigger moments in life.

This is the cover of my Smash book.  I had an 8 1/4" x 8 1/4" kraft book from Paperchase that I bought ages ago.  I carefully took off the binding rings and covered the whole from cover with paper from the "Sweet Stitches" designer series paper, (DSP), added a strip of "Chocolate Chip" cardstock, (CS), across the middle and used the noticeboard type image from the "Sew Lovely" stamp set and stamped my name.

I punched out a few faux buttons in appropriate coloured CS.

On the inside cover I adhered some fab 1 1/4" Stripped grosgrain to make a pen loop and just stuck down a piece of "Very Vanilla" cardstock to keep it looking neat and tidy.

I didn't completely cover the back cover, I added the same size Chocolate Chip" strip as I had used on the front. Then stamped all the images from the "Button, Button" stamp set on to a piece of "Very Vanilla" CS using the colour palette that's in the DSP, This is the colour palette I'm going to use throughout this project.  I actually stamped the images off first to give this back strip a more subtle feel.  I adhered this to the "Chocolate Chip"

This is the inside front cover.  This page I am going to add a picture of myself, this is the only page that is going to have anything about me on, and I'm going to get other people to write something in.

I used the "Baroque Motifs" stamp set to add the image and to make it look more like a wild plant, I used the "Ornament" punch with the pointy end cut off to replicate a plant pot.

This is the start of the section on my Dad. I've already planned that the more important people in my life, like my Mum & Dad are going to have double page spreads, but the plan is that if I need more than that I will just add pages to the book between these pages so that section can just grow if it needs to.  I'm using the "Decorative Label" punch, cut in half and stuck behind photos to write peoples relationship to me on.
~ If you are interested, the photo of my Dad is him when he joined the army and the little journalling I added is about the fact that he was shot and put in a prison camp where they didn't bother taking the bullets and bits of shrapnel out, so he had those bits of metal in him for the whole of his life.

Each page is decorated slightly different, either with an image from the "Sew Lovely" stamp set or more organic images like the one from "Baroque Motifs" but stamped with Versamark ink to give a really subtle impression.

I'm also using the "Scallop Envelop" die for the Big Shot to put in the more personal, private memories I have. 



 
This is going to be an on-going projects that is likely to make many months, if not years to complete as I really want to use this book to capture the essence of the members of my family, so I am quite happy to keep going back to write down the little moments - it does help that I have a bind-it-all machine so I can put it back together when I add pages, but it's so going to be worth all the hard work.
Oh, and if you are wondering why I would choose a sewing based theme when the book is all about my family, well, in my opinion, it's the threads from all these people that weave together to help make you who you are - see, there was a logic to the craziness :o)

 Take very good care of yourselves ..... xx



Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets :  "Sew Lovely"; "Broadsheet Alphabet"; "Baroque Motifs" & "Button, Button"
Card stock : "Tempting Turquoise"; "Wild Wasabi"; "Chocolate Chip"; "Melon Mambo" &  "Very Vanilla" .
Accessories : "Scallop Envelop" die for the Big Shot; 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon in "Chocolate Chip" 1 1/4" Stripped grosgrain ribbon in ""Old Olive"& Versamark Ink Pad
Colour : "Tempting Turquoise"; "Wild Wasabi"; "Chocolate Chip "Tangerine Tango"; "Melon Mambo" "Regal Rose"; Wild Wasabi" & "Daffodil Delight" ink
Tools : "Scallop Envelope" Die for the Big Shot; "Ornament" punch; "Decorative Label" punch; 3/4" round punch; 1/2" round punch; "SNAIL" tape runner adhesive & Tombow liquid adhesive

Count down to Christmas ~ Wk 1

Hi there,

Between now and the end of November my Saturday posts will all be Xmas projects ~ yes, I know it's only August, but did you know that 18 weeks today it will be Christmas Eve!!! - I don't know about you but from my point of view - EEK!!!  I have set myself a target to make all my cards this year and make at least 50 for the local charity shop as well as making holders for gift cards and money, tree decorations, table decorations etc etc -  deep gulp!! :o/

So, to get started, this weeks project is a card.  It is quite simply and easy to mass produce, I've made about 8 of them over the last couple of days, so a good start, I just hope I can keep this up, along with the other projects and cards I have to make for the birthdays, anniversaries, new baby and the wedding that is coming up within my family and friends circle between now and Christmas!

I used the "Jolly Holidays" Designer Series Paper, (DSP). I love this paper and will be sad when it retires at the end of September. I kept the very classic colour palette from the DSP of "Old Olive", "Very Vanilla" and "Cherry Cobbler" which is such a great Christmas combination.

Oh, and of course there is sparkle; it's both glittery and shimmery  :o)

Hope you like them, if you would like to get your hands on this fab DSP or any Stampin' Up products, please don't hesitate to get in contact, always happy to chat about pretty paper and delightful stamps. Oh, and if you are now starting to think that you need a big input of Christmasy crafting inspiration, then please head over to my lovely Stampin' Up 'Mum's' blog where she has a mega tutorial that you can buy for a dozen crafty Christmas ideas, trust me, all the projects are excellent, easy to follow and a bargain price! Check it out for yourself here dazzlin-dozen-tutorials

take care and have a great weekend ... xx



Project Ingredients

Stamp Sets :  "Contempo Christmas" - Both image & sentiment.
Card stock  :  "Old Olive"; "Very Vanilla" & "Basic Black".
DSP : "Jolly Holiday".
Accessories : 5/8" Satin Ribbon in "Old Olive"; "Champagne Mist" - mixed in Surgical Spirit & Spritzed; "Dazzling Diamonds" glitter.
Tools : "Scallop Edge" Border punch; "SNAIL" tape runner adhesive "Stampin' Dimensionals"

Simple Gift Card holder

Hi there, how are you?

I've been really busy lately, couldn't tell you what I've done it just seems that everyday stuff is taking all my time at the moment, do you ever get days like that??

I have found time to do a little bit of crafting though. I'd go crazy if I didn't get a little bit of time looking at my pretty paper and stamp sets - lol

Today I would like to share with you a really simple gift card holder that showcases the gorgeous 1 1/4" Rich Razzleberry Grosgrain ribbon, which is £10.25 for a roll of 10 yards but it is just one of the items you can get for nothing, nil, zero, no quids at all, if you place an order over a certain value this month ONLY. Please see column on the left for all the details and what else is included in this fabulous freebie from Stampin' Up this month.

As you can see, it's really simple and you could produce quite a few of these if, for instance, you where making up a batch to give out at Christmas, (it's not that far away now you know, especially for us crafters!),

As you can see from the second photo, I've used the ribbon as a belly band, when that's taken off, the card can be opened and there is space to write on on the top half and the section to put in your gift card at the bottom or even money if it was folded up.

I also spritzed the cover with "Champagne Mist" shimmer paint mixed with Surgical Spirit, this gives it a beautiful and subtle sparkly finish all over the card, not sure how well it shows up in the card below, but IRL it's gorgeous!

 

Project Ingredience:

* "Something to Celebrate" Stamp Set - Free Hostess Level 2 set in Summer Mini Catalogue.
* "Rich Razzleberry" & "Old Olive" cardstock - Cat Ref's : 119981 & 106576 or 121698 for the Brights collection (2 x each colour in the brights collection)
* "Rich Razzleberry" 1 1/4" grosgrain ribbon - Cat' Ref 119774
* "Old Olive" brads - Cat' Ref : 119740 Brights collection
* Versamark Ink Pad - Cat' Ref : 102283
* White Embossing Powder - Cat' Ref : 109132
* Heat Tool - Cat' Ref  110197
* "Champagne Mist" Shimmer Paint - Cat' Ref : 116806

I got my Surgical Spirit from Boots the Chemist.  When making up the solution you do need to add a very little amount of cooled, boiled water - get in contact if you want to know more about this or if you have any questions at all about anything related to Stampin' Up.

Big crafty hugs, until we chat again  .... xx

Monogrammed Cards - day 3

To today I'm sharing the last in my little series of monogrammed cards. I've used the 'Broadsheet Alphabet' stamp set throughout which is a beautiful stamp set.

If you've not seen this one you really should, it's on page 76 if the currently Idea book & Catalogue and as you can see from this small picture, very letter is different and very striking and the stamps print beautifully.

My colour palette today is 'Marina Mist' which is such a beautiful, classy blue, and goes perfectly with the 'En Francais' background stamp that I used today.

 

As you can see, this is very similar to the other two cards, only I used 5/8" Satin Ribbon.  Only had one problem, I didn't have any ribbon in the right colour so I used 'Whisper White' ribbon and coloured it in using a sponge and my 'Marina Mist' ink pad and you really would never be able to tell it was a DIY job so if you love the look of the satin ribbon but can't afford to buy all 13 colours, then just get a bundle of 'Whisper White' and your trusty ink pads and change the colour to suit any colour scheme you fancy.

Like on the other cards, I added a little 'Crystal Effects' to the dot on the 'A' image here too.








If you like the look of monogrammed cards, but really need matching letters, for say, wedding stationery, then, personally, I would go for the 'Monogram Sweet Alphabet' stamp set which can be found on page 77.
 

If you would like to know more about any of the products used or mentioned on my blog today, or what other monogram set are available within the Stampin' Up range, then please do not hesitate to get in contact, I'm always happy to chat about pretty things!

lots of hugs xx

Monogrammed Cards - day 2

Hello again, as promised, today I'm sharing another monogrammed card.

Today’s palette is 'Poppy Parade' - yes, another 'In Colour'. I do find that I tend to gravitate towards this and yesterdays colours quite a bit, I think they are both great.
Today I used the 'Medallion' background stamp. This has to be one of my favourite stamps because it is so versatile and also, depending on the colour scheme, very unisex.
Like yesterday's card, I stamped my initial using the 'Broadsheet Alphabet' stamp set, but this time I added a small 'Poppy Parade' mat before adding to the scalloped circle and I adhered to the centre of the image using dimensionals.

Again, I added some 'Crystal Effects' to the dot within the 'A' image - I think you can see it a bit better in this photo.






I have just one more monogrammed card to share with you this week, and no, it's not going to be using one of the 'In Colours' this time :o)

take care xx

Monogrammed Cards - day 1

Hello there, hope you are enjoying the heat, me? I hate it; I am defiantly a cool weather girl and not a sun worshiper at all!
Today and over the next couple of days I would like to share with you some monogrammed cards. These are easy to make, great if you’ve lost your crafty mojo and can be for personal notes or put a few together in a box and they make a great gift idea.

For today’s card I used ‘Concord Crush’ as my themed colour. I love this colour; it’s great for both male and female cards.
I stamped the 'Friendly' background stamp on 'Whisper White' card stock, matted that onto 'Concorn Crush' cardstock, Tide a bow using some 1/2" stitched-poly ribbon then stuck to a 'Whisper White' card blank. I then stamped my initial using the 'Broadsheet Alphabet' stamp set, stuck onto a scalloped circle and stuck over the ribbon using dimensionals.

I aslo added a little 'Crystal Effects' to the dot in the detail of the 'A' which you can just about see in this photo.







Hope you like it, I'll be back tomorrow to share another style of monogrammed card, till then, take care xx

Stampin' Up special offer for August only!

Stampin' Up have announced another great offer, but be quick, this one is for the month of August ONLY!

Simply place an order of £75 or host a workshop totalling over £250 this month and you will receive this fantastic FREE gift!!

The gift includes this exclusively designed makeup bag, 1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon in Rich Razzlebury and a 24 piece clip assortment. The ribbon and clip assortment would cost over £18 alone if you where to purchase them separately, so this really is a great deal.

If you have any questions or would like to place an order or organise a workshop, please don't hesitate to drop me a line at my email address of techiebell@hotmail.co.uk.

Take care of yourselves :o)